


Love from the Future

by maidens_wanderlust



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, basically an orange au minus the heavy angst, flirtyrobot, mostly fluffy in more ways than one, pance, pidgance, plance, time traveling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 07:35:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20093638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maidens_wanderlust/pseuds/maidens_wanderlust
Summary: Time traveling androids have been coming to the present for a year, offering letters from the future. On the brink of taking a risk with one of his best friends, Lance spends time with an android and receives a letter of his own.





	Love from the Future

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! I finally wrote another oneshot! Inspired by a prompt generator while looking for a muse for a different fic. The original prompt was to write about a character who finds a typewriter, discovers a love letter that's from the future, and tries to find the person who wrote it. As you'll see, I didn't follow the prompt to a T. XD
> 
> Shout out to Rueitae for taking the time to read this in different stages. I was so stuck on the letter part of this fic and her support meant a lot. Thank you, Rue! <3

"Gather 'round, gather 'round; the mailman from the future is in town! Maybe someone wrote you a letter to make your life better! Gather 'round, people!" 

Having an android from the future laundering around post offices in the city was nothing new to Lance, but he never heard of one shouting for people's attention. Normally they would just approach you and ask for your DNA. Sometimes they even came out of nowhere. He couldn't help but wonder if this new approach had anything to do with Keith.

A few weeks ago, he and Keith were in Uptown Arus City picking up a package for Romelle's surprise birthday party. An android popped out of nowhere and asked for Keith's thumbprint. Keith, with the most intense reflexes ever, flipped the poor thing on his back. The android didn't even ask again or clarify why he asked in the first place; he just limped away and opened a portal to take himself back home. 

He probably talked to his colleagues about boundaries. 

This android was a little different. Yes, he was monochromatic like his fellow bots, but for one, he wore clothes that a typical mailman of today would wear. Two, he was tiny. Almost the size of a five-year-old. He also wore glasses, which was interesting because, as far as Lance could tell, androids didn't have those kinds of disabilities. Huh.

Watching the poor guy tirelessly call after people who ignored him in different ways made Lance put away the green envelope he had clutched in his hand into his backpack. He had a few minutes he could spare with him. 

He walked around the people passing by the New Arus City post office and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He waved one gloved hand in the air and shouted, "Hey!"

The android stopped trying to talk to a young lady who kept her eyes glued to her cell phone and turned his head toward Lance. Upon their eyes meeting, the android beamed and made his way down the stairs. 

Lance leaned down to get a good look at his name tag. Chip. He smiled and rested his hands on his knees. "How's it going, Chip?"

"You can stand straight, L...Mr. M...sir! Y-you can stand straight." Chip let out a brief shaky chuckle. "I don't want you to tire out your back."

_Did he almost say my name?_ Lance thought. He shrugged and straightened himself out. "Are you new? You look awfully young for this kind of job."

"I'm older than I look," Chip said. He puffed out his chest with a smug look on his face. "And I've been doing this for a month!"

"Is that so? Then I need to come this way more often." 

"I wouldn't protest to that...sir!"

Lance held in a chuckle. He would have to tease him another time and see if he could get him to spill anything from the future. He held up his left thumb. "May I see if I have any mail?"

"Of course!" 

Chip held his head high and at the base of his neck lied a scanner for a fingerprint. Lance gently pressed against it and waited as it scanned his thumb up and down. Honestly, he didn't expect anything. Until now, no android ever bothered him for a thumbprint. Just about everyone else got mail at some point for the last year. Everyone except him and Pidge.

The loud beep interrupted his thoughts, prompting him to break contact with the scanner. To his surprise, a navy blue envelope popped halfway out of the slot that resided underneath the scanner. Lance pulled it out and held it in both hands. 

It had his name on it, but it was stamped. Right off the bat he knew it meant someone else sent him a letter rather than himself because he wouldn't have bothered to be discreet with himself. Like Hunk's future self. He sent Hunk a handwritten letter about things that were obvious even now and included a recipe for Hunk to perfect in fifteen years. Totally harmless. 

But now? Now Lance didn't know how to feel. Should he be happy he finally got a letter? Or apprehensive? Hunk wondered if Lance died before they perfected time traveling; Lance wanted to believe it meant his future self didn't see the need to say anything to him if everything turned out okay. 

"You seem troubled," Chip said. He moved to Lance's side and stood on the tip of his toes. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, no. I'm just wondering why someone else sent me a letter. Don't you have any rules from your home about this? Everyone I know who got a letter got one from their future selves."

Chip shrugged. "It's common to send yourself a letter, but regardless of who you write to, it's important that you don't say or do anything that will change the timeline for the worst. It's a vague rule, but a rule nonetheless."

Lance couldn't argue with that. He ripped the envelope open and pulled a letter out that was folded into three parts. He stared at it for a few seconds. 

"I, um, I have a weird request."

It caught Lance off guard that Chip would talk in a soft voice. He gazed at him and he looked every bit like the children Lance worked with at his internship. Lance couldn't help but smile at him. "Ask away."

"Could I read the letter with you?"

Maybe the request was a little...invasive, but for some reason he didn't mind. For some reason, it made him feel a little safe to dive into this letter from the future with another person who may or may not know his future self. It wouldn't hurt.

Lance took a seat on the steps and patted the space next to him. Beaming, Chip sat down and nuzzled against Lance's side.

Lance unfolded the letter. Like the envelope, the content wasn't handwritten. Whoever composed this letter typed it out. 

_Whoever they are, they sure are cautious,_ he thought. He cleared his throat before reading out loud:

_Dear Lance,_

_No, you're not dead. You're alive, healthy, and, according to you, the happiest you've ever been. I suggested you should write to yourself but you didn't see the need._

Lance sighed in relief. He continued:

_Normally I would agree with you seeing that I never wrote to myself either on the same principle but I digress. I'm writing to you because there's something I want to say._

_I love you, Lance. You're my best friend and I love you._

_Maybe it's weird for me to say since we're already married and I've said it before, but I still wanted to say it here. You see, our love languages are so different. In fact, it's so different that sometimes I worry that I don't make it clear enough just how much you mean to me. You always back your words of love with small and big gestures while I almost always rely on teasing, snark, and rough play to express my feelings for you. I want to do better. I promise I will do better. So know these key things, Lance._

_One: Every time you're with Nadia, Sylvio, or the rest of our nieces and nephews, I see what we'll eventually have. Our kids will be the luckiest children in the world because they will have you for a father. A father who can be goofy and outlandish on good days and understanding and reliable on the bad._

_Two: The times that I wake up before you do, I always wait a few minutes before doing anything because, even after being together for ten years, seeing your face is still the highlight of our mornings. You still have yet to catch me staring at you. Ha!_

_Three: Like any couple, we have our ups and downs but even with the worst fight we ever had, I never feared that it was the end for our marriage. Never._

_Four: I'm still a workaholic. I'll have to work on that too, but what I'm concerned about is you falling asleep on the couch waiting for me. As cute as it is to see your sleeping face or waking you up (You're extra clingy when you're half awake), I'd rather you were in bed, silly._

"I smell hypocrisy," Lance muttered in a sing-song voice. Chip snickered next to him.

_I'll end this letter here by saying it again: I love you, Lance. Understatement of the century._

_Signed,_

_"Mogwai"_

Lance read the letter a few more times before folding it and putting it back in the envelope. He pressed the envelope against his lips. He was alive. And he was married. He remembered the green envelope in his backpack. A wonderful, tingling sensation spread throughout his chest. Maybe there was hope for this after all. 

"Lance?"

Lance realized he was still keeping Chip company and shook his head. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. I got lost in thought."

"It's okay." Chip pulled his legs to his chest and bobbed his head at the letter. "How do you feel now?"

"Honestly? Hopeful."

"Oh?"

Lance nodded. "I feel hopeful knowing even if it's possible I don't end up with my best friend, I still have a happy life ahead of me." He stood up. "I won't know until I tell her how I feel."

Chip chuckled. "I wish you luck."

"I need it," Lance said. He patted Chip's head. "I'm going to her now, but I hope to see you again in the future, Chip."

Chip gave Lance a warm smile. "Likewise, Lance."

With a final salute, Lance hopped off the stairs and sprinted for the bus stop. She would be home working on her Physics project that was due a week after spring break. She might scold him for interrupting or tell him he should've waited until their hang out day on Friday. But he promised himself he would make it quick.

He just needed to see her.

-

Chip stretched his arms as the portal behind him disappeared. So far, the house was the same. The front garden full of flowers that Colleen planted as a gift. Pidge's makeshift scarecrow made entirely out of metal and wires. 

And Lance's butterflies made out of stained glass. 

Chip sighed in relief. 

He typed the passcode that allowed him into the house. Messy as usual. Paper and scrapped metal sprawled all over the floor. Paper plate with crumbs left on the living room table. 

And Pidge sitting at the computer in the corner of the living room, holding a green card in her hand.

"I'm home," Chip said.

Pidge didn't jump. She put the card on the desk table and turned to greet Chip with a wave. "Welcome back."

"I see I didn't change anything," Chip said. "Or at least, not enough for it to be noticeable."

"Stable time loop as far as I can tell," she confirmed. She opened her arms out.

Chip came over and accepted the hug. "It made him happy. The letter. I thought you should know."

"Good," she said. She released him and rose to her feet. "He won't be back for another hour so I want to have this living room cleaned up before he comes in."

Chip stared at her.

"Don't act so surprised."

Chip didn't say anything. He simply headed for the hallway to get the vacuum cleaner out of the closet while Pidge began to gather the paper off the floor. When he returned to the living room, he saw that the green card was still on the desk table. 

He stopped to open it. It was the same. The card itself was made out of construction paper, the edges slowly fading into a yellowish color. Inside were three roses with gold rims. A red rose, a yellow rose, and an orange rose. They were grouped together like a Venn diagram. Underneath it lied a chemical structure written out in black ink. 

Serotonin. 

The card included two ticket stubs for the Killbot Phastasm movie that long faded. He wondered if Lance knew she kept it all these years. 

He put the card down and got to work. He'd let him find it. It would be another opportunity for her to talk about her feelings with current Lance rather than past Lance.

He smiled at the thought. 

Tonight would be a good night.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, thank you and I hope it was worth your time. Take care!


End file.
